Cube Glossary (Outdated)

From 2003-2006, with 349 entries. Today, I support the SpeedSolving wiki, where I am a regular contributor.

I believe this to be (as of 2006) the longest list of cube-related terms in English (the longest in any language is probably on Ishino's site). A lot of the definitions are not complete yet. I'd appreciate any help with collecting cube terms and definitions.(to find out more about items categorized [puzzle], please visit TwistyPuzzles.com). Thanks to everyone who contributed to this glossary.

Symbol

0

[blindfoldcubing]1. Notation in Blindfold Cubing which means that a corner is oriented correctly.2. Notation in Blindfold Cubing which means that an edge is oriented correctly.

1

[blindfoldcubing]1. Notation in Blindfold Cubing which means that a corner needs to be twisted clockwise.2. Notation in Blindfold Cubing which means that an edge is oriented incorrectly.

2

[blindfoldcubing]1. Notation in Blindfold Cubing which means that a corner needs to be twisted counter-clockwise.2. Suffix meaning that the face/slice preceding it should be turned halfway of a whole turn.

2-look Last Layer

Solving the last layer in two steps. OLL then PLL and CLL then ELL are the most commonly used such approaches.

2-Second Penalty

A penalty of 2 seconds given when a cube is put down with 1 layer past the first penalty line, but not past the second line. The line is where the slit between the FU edge and the FRU corner goes past that of FU and FLU, and was implemented by Tyson Mao, a board member of WCA, who wrote the official WCA rules.

Solving the last layer in 3 steps. Usually refers to the intermediate method to Fridrich, in which orientation is done in two steps (corner edge or edge corner) and permutation is done in one step.

4-look Last Layer

A primitive last layer approach and the first step to learning Fridrich. Usually edge orientation, corner orientation, corner permutation, edge permutation, in that order.

6 edges 4 centers

The finishing step for many traditional corners first methods and also Gilles Roux's method. Can be approached in numerous ways.

15

Suffix for JSCC whole cube turn notation, meaning a tilt of 15 degrees. Used as in (r15). There is also 30 and 45.

'

Suffix meaning that the face/slice preceding it should be turned counter-clockwise, or opposite of the way it is usually turned.

#

Mathematical notation used to indicate the number of elements in a set. Used to show the calculation to determine if there is a corner-edge parity on the cube.

+

Notation indicating that the corner on which it is written on needs to be twisted clockwise.

-

Notation indicating that the corner on which it is written on needs to be twisted counter-clockwise.

A

a

[suffix]move suffix indicating oppsite face to be turned in the same direction (clockwise - anticlockwise). visually the opposite direciton.

Adjust U-face

Moves that need to be applied to put a pattern in a certain direction before performing an algorithm.

Air Jeff

Double turns separated by moves done by the free hand, in which the direction of double turns are alternated and performed without regripping. A FSC suggested by Jeff Black. Used in RU2R2'U'R2U'R2'U2R.

Alexander Star

[puzzle]Puzzle in shape of a great dodecahedron. All 5 plates that make up each pentagonal surface have the same color when solved. Corresponds to the edges of Megaminx.

Algorithm

Any fixed sequence of movements. Often denoted using a common notation, as in RUR'URU2'R'. e.g. OLL algorithms, PLL algorithms.

Allan (TM)

Lars Petrus' algorithm to permute three last layer edges without any other effect on the cube. The main algorithm for Step 7 of Petrus Method.

Antislice

Turning two opposite sides in the opposite direction (same rotation, clockwise or counter-clockwise).

Arch

Arch seen on the inside of center pieces on Rubik's Deluxe and new Oddzon cubes, creating a full circle with the edge pieces. Prevents POP. Cubes with archs are said to be arched.

Arxon

Another term for Ideal. These cubes from the 1980s had both BOY and RBG (BYO) color schemes, plus adjusting screws. (David Salvia)

Average time of middle 10 (discarding the fastest and the slowest) out of 12 consecutive attempts

Axle

The center piece of a Rubik's Cube that holds all the pieces together. Connected to all 6 center pieces by a wire through a transparent plastic. The center part can either be transparent/dark plastic, or softer material.

B

B

[move]turn the Back-face 90degrees clockwise

B-face

Bandaged Cube

[puzzle]Rubik's Cube with several adjacent pieces held together, which restricts the possible turns that can be made on it.Can be ordered at Meffert's Puzzle

Bandaged Pyraminx

[puzzle]

BCFSSS

(abbrev.)Blindfold Cubing For Seriously Sad Savants - a collection of optimal algorithms to orient corners, permute corners, orient edges, and permute edges. A work in progress by Richard Carr.

BCFTSS

Blinfold Cubing For The Seriously Sad - an intermdediate step to BCFSSS. Completed work by Richard Carr.

Bert (TM)

Lars Petrus' algorithm to double transpose adjacent last layer edges without any other effect on the cube. Use in Step 7 of Petrus Method. Corresponds to Z-permutation.

Big(ger) Cubes

Refers to 4x4x4, 5x5x5, etc.

Blank Cube

The cube itself without the stickers

BLD

= Blindfold Cubing

Blindfold Cubing

Also called "blindfoldcubing," "blindfold solving," etc. To solve a Rubik's Cube without looking afer a period of inspection. 1-look solve. Blindfold cubing is 1-look solving, not 0-look solving.

Blindfold Team Solving

= Team Blindfold Solving

Block Approach

Intuitive approach for solving, where parts of a puzzle is solved by creating various blocks of pieces. Most block approaches were created for speedcubing, and generally takes less number of algorithms and less moves per solve than other methods. Some examples are Petrus Method, Gilles Roux's Method, and Ryan Heise's Method.

C

Cube club based in California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. President Tyson Mao is a board member of WCA. The club has been responsible for most of the competitions in the US since 2004.

Case Cube

Elongated Fisher Cube. Invented by Tony Fisher.

CCC

= Caltech Cube Club

Center Ball

1. Three-grooved sphere that can be found inside a Rubik's Revenge. Holds the center pieces in place.2. The ball found inside Pyraminx.

Center First Method

Method for solving bigger cubes in which the center pieces are solved first. Chris Hardwick's solution.

Center Piece

The piece of the Rubik's Cube located in the middle of each face. In Rubik's Deluxe and new Oddzon cubes, the center pieces are arched on the inside. Odd-number sized cubes have unchanging centers.

Bracket notation used to concisely write down conjugates. For example, [P,Q]=PQP'Q'. [S,A,B]= S(ABA'B')S'.

Container

[puzzle]Skewb variation. Invented by Tony Fisher.

Corner-Edge Parity

[blindfoldcubing]Whether a double transposition of corners and edges is needed on a blindfolded solve. If there is, it is resolved in the beginning with a single face turn or during or at the end of the solve with a PLL. All cube states either have or do not have this. Any single face turn will change the parity.

Corner First

A method of solving the cube in which the corners are solved first, and then the edges. Marc Waterman's speedcubing method belongs to this category.

Corner Piece

The pieces of the cube that are the corners of the whole cube.
8 corner pieces in a Rubik's Cube. A corner piece has three orientation.

Corners of Last Layer

Cross

The orientation and permutation of edges of the first layer. First step in most LBL methods, including Fridrich Method. Can be solved in at most 8 moves, and almost always in 7 moves or less. Most speedcubers prefer to put the cross on bottom or on left during F2L.

[puzzle]Rubik's Cube with 8 corners cut up to the midpoint of each edge.

Cuboid

Rubik's type puzzles in shape of rectangular prism (but not cubes). For a puzzle to be considered a cuboid, it must be fully-functional, meaning that all slice can be turned. Extended puzzles such as extended 3x3x5 are not considered cuboids.

[blindfoldcubing]A method of memorizign the permutation of pieces in a cycle.Explained on Olly's Cube Page.

D

D

Dallas Disaster

Dubbed in an IM conversation by Tyson Mao, this refers to his failing of all three blindfold solves at Caltech Dallas Summer competition 2005. The first of these was a 2:13 with two incorrectly flipped edges. He went on to set a new world record of 1:58, first ever official solve under 2 minutes, at Northern California Fall Open 2005 on September 17, successfully solving all three attempts.

David Singmaster

Mathematician from United Kingdom who first popularized Rubik's Cube through discovery of the mathematics involved in it.

E

E

Equator. The slice between U and D. "E" as a notation refers to the turning of the E slice in direction of D.

Eastsheen

A company in Taiwan. Manufacturer of Eastsheen 2x2x2, 4x4x4, and 5x5x5, which all have different mechanisms from corresponding Rubik's puzzles. Eastsheen 2x2x2 is known to be much smoother than Rubik's mini cube. There is still a dispute over the legality of these puzzles in competitions.

EC2004

Euro Championship 2004

Edge Control

= LL Edge Control

Edge Piece

The piece of Rubik's Cube that is between two corner pieces.resembles the sides of the Rubik's Cube.edge piece has two orientations.There are 12 edges on a Rubik's Cube.

ELL

(abbrev.) Edges of Last Layer

Edges of Last Layer

The last step in Guus Schultz's LBL Method. Corrects the orientation and the permutation of LL edges in 1 algorithm. Masayuki Akimoto independently found algorithms for this step in his corners first method he devised in the early 80s.

A fully-functional 2x2x3 made using Tony Fisher's Cuboid Transformation with a normal 3x3x3 as a base and two super 2x2x2's for outer coverings.

Fridrich Method

A very fast two step LL LBL method which allows one to solve the cube in as fast as 15 seconds on avg. The most popular speedcubing method. Also called CFOP

FSC

[speedcubing](abbrev.) Finger Short Cut

F2L

[speedcubing](abbrev.) First 2 Layers

G

Gaetan Guimond's Corner Method

An extremely fast orientation-first method for the corners.

Gilles Roux's method

A block-based approach finishing with 6 edges and 4 centers for solving the cube. Invented by French cuber Gilles Roux in 2003, this is the only non-LBL method that has been proven so far to be capable of sub-16 averages.

Gliding Cube

God's Algorithm

Shortest algorithm to perform a certain task on the cube ie. solve the cube.

1. The set of positions reachable from a solved cube using only certain moves. e.g.UDR2L2F2B2 Group2. Those moves.(In mathematics, Rubik's Cube is often used as an example of a finite, noncummutative group.) Rubik's Cube forms what is known as the Cube Group.

Group Theory

A branch of mathematics deeply connected to puzzles such as the cube.

Guus Schultz Method

A LBL method in which the last layer is solved by first fixing the corners (CLL) and then fixing the edges (ELL). Roux Guus Schultz placed second at 1982 World Championship in Budapest, Hungary, where he competed for the Netherlands.

H

Half Turn

180 degree turn.

Half Turn Metric

System of counting where half turns as well as quarter turns are counted as 1 move, and slice moves are counted as 2 moves.

Harris-notation (Harris-ENG)

Most commonly used notation for Rubik's Cube. Basic notation plus M, S, E for slices and x, y, z for cube turns. M,E, and S were added by a German, Christoph Bandelow.

Hasbro

Distributer of Rubik's Cube and other Rubik's puzzles in the United States.

Helmstetter's LL algorithms

1211 algorithms to solve any LL pattern in one step. Created by Bernard Helmstetter.

HTM

(abbrev.)Half Turn Metric

Hungarian Rings

[puzzle]

I

i

Suffix in notation. Same as '. Inverse.

Ideal Toy Corporation

Rubik's Cube company from the 80s.

Identity

A sequence (often nontrivial) that has no effect on the cube group. Can be applied to other groups such as the supercube group.

Inspection Time

1)A period of time given before each solve to a cuber to inspect the cube; usually 15 seconds.2)A period of time in which blindfold cubers memorize the cube prior to star solving the cube blindfolded.

Japanese Rubik's Cube Association. Formed in the summer of 2005 by Masayuki Akimoto as the president. JRCA website

JSCC

[club](abbrev.) Japan Speed Cubing Club

K

K8 Ball

[puzzle]

L

L

L2L approach

A method of solving parts of the last layer along with each slot of the F2L. Invented by Duncan Dick.

Last Layer

The layer that is solved last in a LBL method. Requires a large number of algorithms to be memorized to produce a fast solution. There are 1212 patterns including the solved state (not including mirrors/inverses).

1. A portion of a puzzle that turns together.2. A solid side and facelets adjacent to that side.

Layer by Layer

A method of solving a Rubik's Cube, in which the cube will be solved in order of first layer, second layer, and third layer.Jessica's Fridrich's Method is considered to be a LBL method although it uses the concept of F2L.

Layer by Layer Method

One of the two major classes of methods for solving a Rubik's Cube. Method of solving a Rubik's Cube most popularly used among speedcubers.Fridrich's method falls under this category.

LBL

(abbrev.)Layer by Layer

Leaflet Dodecahedron

[puzzle]

L-face

Length

1)Length of an algorithm. Measured by face turns or quarter turns.
2)Number of Pieces involved in a cycle.

LL

(abbrev.) Last layer

LL Edge Control

set of algorithms to correct the orientation of LL edges while inserting the last F2L slot/edge/corner.

Look

1 "look" at a puzzle. For example, using normal Fridrich method, a cube can be solved in 7 looks.

Lubricant

Lucky Case

A solve in which 1 or more stages of the usual solving were skipped.

M

M

Middle. The slice between R and L. "M" as a notation refers to the turning of the M slice in direction of L.

P

Relationship between corners and edges. If a swap of just 2 corners or 2 edges is required on a 4x4x4, it is a parity error.

PB

Personal Best. Usually used for personal best single times.

Picture Cube

[puzzle]Rubik's Cube with pictures on each side instead of one solid color. Equivalent to a Super Cube.

Permutation

Where a piece needs to be moved to complete a certain task

Permutation of Last Layer

Set of algirithms to permute all last layer pieces in one step without disturbing the orientation. Total of 21 patterns including mirrors and inverses. Last stage in Jessica Fridrich's LBL. Average 14 moves. Also called LLP.

Permutation Parity

4-edge cycle on a Revenge. Chris Hardwick's algorithm is r2U2r2U2u2r2u2.

Petrus Method

A block-approach invented by Lars Petrus, the 4th place finisher from Sweden in the 1982 World Championship in Budapest. This is probably the second most popular solving system among speedcubers.

Technique for "finding moves that swap/rotates edges/corners" used by Olly. (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/family.hayden/cube/cube_frontpage.html)See conjugation.

POP

When a piece or pieces of a puzzle separates from the main part of the puzzle while solving. In UWR, 1 POP is permitted per an average set, and is discarded, and an additional solve is given to the solver. JSCC does not allow POPs. Intentional POP is diallowed, and will result in disqualification.

Preinspection

Time given to the cuber prior to each solve to inspect the cube. Generally 15 seconds. Usually used to "read" the first step of the solve.

[puzzle]Tetrahedron-shaped puzzle with the mechanism of 2x2x2. Changes shapes.

Q

QTM

(abbrev.) Quarter Turn Metric

Quarter Turn

A 90 degree turn.

Quarter Turn Metric

System of counting where a half turn is considered 2 moves, and slice moves are considered 2 moves.

R

R

R2-D2

[puzzle]An R2-D2 shaped 3x3x3.

RA

(abbrev.) Rolling Average

Rainbow Cube

[puzzle]

RCC

(abbrev.)Rubik's Champioinship Committee

Real No Cut

Unedited video of 12 consecutive solves. Started by Katsuyuki Konishi.

Resolution

Solving. Often used to refer to the solving step of blindfolded solves.

Revenge

= Rubik's Revenge

R-face

Rhombic Prism

[puzzle]Invented by Tony Fisher.

R.N.C.

(abbrev.)Real No Cut

Rolling Average

Average where the start and the finish were not strictly pre-determined. For example, doing 20 solves and taking from the 7th to 18th solve is considered a rolling average. Rolling Averages are permitted on UWR. However, many in JSCC does not consider this a valid average.

Rolling POP

When a corner twists in its place without a POP, resulting in an unsolvable situation of the cube.

[puzzle]Cube-shaped puzzle divided into 26 smaller pieces, which can be twisted in three direction.Invented by Prof. Erno Rubiks in 70's, this puzzle caused the first cube craze in the early 80's.From the time this cube has been invented, we human has been continueing the endless journey to search for the perfect solution, to solve the cube as fast as possible, to solve it blindfolded, etc, etc...

S

Side. The slice between F and B. "S" as a notation refers to the turning of the S slice in direction of F.

s

[suffix]move suffix indicating oppsite face to be turned in the other direction (clockwise - anticlockwise), or visually the same direciton.

Saturday Contest

International online speedcubing contest held every Saturday. Categories: 2x2x2, 3x3x3, 4x4x4, and a special catgory each week. Organized by Raul Garcia.

SC

(abbrev.)Sunday Contest

Scramble

To scramble a cube randomly.

Scrambling Sequence

A random sequence to scramble the cube.Can be given using programs such as Ultimate Rubik's Timer (programmed by Jess Bonde)

Seven Sins of Speedcubers

Accoding to Duncan Dick, they are
"1.. Taking a cube to bed with you
2.. Solving a cube when you should be working or studying
3.. Intolerance of those who can't solve the cube
4.. Frustration at the stupid things people say when they find out you can do the cube
5.. Deliberately popping during a slow solve
6.. Talking cube jargon to those who have no way of udnerstanding
7.. Teaching other people to solve the cube"Original posting on Yahoo! forum.

Switching U and D. Set of all algorithms to move all corners in their correct layer without disturbing the orientation. Second to last step of some corners (or 2x2x2) solutions, including Gaetan Guimond's and Victor Ortega's. Followed by XLL. A phrase coined by Katsuyuki Konishi.

An extension of the cube group in which the orientation of each center is taken into account. For example, the sequence [RUR'U]x5 is an identity in the cube group but is not an identity in the supercube group.

T

A picture cube each of whose cubie is colored like a 2x2x2. Created by Dan Hoey.

Team Absolut

A group of French cubers that are French.

Team Blindfold Solving

A solve done by two people in which the "solver" is blindfolded the entire time and the "caller" tells the solver what to do. The caller may not touch the cube. Almost all of the fastest times have been achieved by a team with Ian Winokur as the caller.

V

W

Highly developed CF method which allows one to solve a Rubik's Cube in as fast as 16 seconds avg.

WC Table Mat Timing System

Method of timing using a timing pad, which starts when leaving the hands off the mat and stops when hands are placed back on it. Simulation of WC 2003. Started by Katsuyuki Konishi, and now an "official rule" adopted by UWR.

WC 2003

Rubik's Game World Champioinship 2003 in Toronto, Canada.Held on August 23 & 24 as the first Rubik's world competition in 21 years since 1982 Budapest World Championship. Links: www.speedcubing.com - WC 2003

WC 2005

Championship currently being planned by RCC. To be held in Orlando, Florida in November, 2005.

X

Set of all algorithms (5 patterns in all) to permute all corners correctly in their respective layer without disturbing the orientation. Last step of some corners (or 2x2x2) solutions, including Gaetan Guimond's and Victor Ortega's. A phrase coined by Katsuyuki Konishi.

Y

y

A whole cube turn in the direction of U. Same as (u) in JSCC notation.

Z

z

A whole cube turn in the direction of F. Same as (f) in JSCC notation.

ZB

Zborowski-Bruchem Method

ZBF2L

Zborowski-Bruchem F2L. Fixing the edge orientation of the last layer while fixing the fourth slot of the F2L.

ZBLL

Zborowski-Bruchem Last Layer. Corresponds to Petrus Method steps 5-7, and permute the edges and orient and permute the corners without disturbing the edge orientation in one step. A total of 177 algorithms. (Not including inverses or mirrors.)

Zborowski-Bruchem Method

Highly-developed 1-look last layer LBL method that allows one to solve a cube in 40 moves on average (even when going for speed) and 15 seconds on avg.Requires 300 algorithms to be memorized. Developed independently by Zbigniew Zborowski and Ron van Bruchem Link: Zbigniew Zborowski's site.